If you’ve made any attempt to shop for a 4K TV at the higher end of the market before, then you must have heard the initials QLED and OLED before.
Yes, they share a good number of letters, but that doesn’t make them the same. They are, in fact, very different, with each possessing its strengths and weaknesses. Both technologies are, however, famous for driving some of the best TVs in the market.
As expected, a lot of buyers are often torn between choosing between the two. In this article, we will try to cover as many differences between the two as possible, so that you can make an informed choice when you set out to select the best TV for your needs. Before going on, however, let’s look at some definitions.
What is QLED?
QLED are initials that stand for Quantum Light Emitting Diode. In simpler terms, QLED TVs are just like any other regular LED TV, with the only difference being its ability to use quantum dots that are embedded in its LCD panel. These quantum dots are tiny nanoparticles that are designed to improve the brightness and color of your TV view dramatically.
What is OLED?
OLED are initials for Organic Light-Emitting Diode. Perhaps, it will surprise you to know that the LED part of its name does not have anything to do with any LED backlight, as is the case with QLED and other LED TVs. Instead, it is used to refer to the fact that each of the pixels in this technology is also a teeny, tiny LED light. Despite its thinness, however, it is still able to produce color and light at once.
Having understood what each term stands for, let’s now dive into the differences that exist between both of them.
QLED vs. OLED
- Black Levels and Contrast
This is perhaps the first thing most people look at when they are choosing a TV. Contrast is the difference that exists between the bright side of an image and its dark side. As long as a TV is able to deliver a dark black portion, it often does not need to make its bright part to be in the same level of brightness in order to achieve a good contrast level.
The ability of OLED to go completely black when there’s a need for it to make it the undisputed champion when it comes to black levels.
QLED TVs, on the other hand, are forced to dim their LED backlights to get the perfect contrast. This is something that can sometimes prove challenging and can lead to light bleeding.
For now, OLED stays on top when comparing the two under this factor.
- Brightness
When looking at this factor, you can see that QLED TVs have a considerable advantage over their counterparts. This is basically because of their use of separate backlights. This composition can make their LED backlights incredibly, achingly bright. Add the ability of a quantum fit to maximize the use of the light by producing brighter hues in the color spectrum, and you are presented with a display that can be seen, irrespective of the brightness level of the room.
OLED panels, on the other hand, can’t compete with this brightness level. This is because of the inability of their individual Light-Emitting pixels to produce this amount of light. While this might not be an issue in a dark room, it gradually begins to become an issue as more light is introduced into the room.
Winner: QLED.
- Color Space
A few years ago, OLED was the king in this section, blowing all its competition out of the water. Today, however, QLED has inched forward in terms of color accuracy because of its use of quantum dots.
Of course, there’s no denying the ability of QLED to deliver outstanding color quality, but we are still waiting to witness better-saturated colors being produced at regular viewing times. Hence, we will declare it a draw between the two, for now, considering that color is subjective.
- Response Time
Response rate stands for the time it takes for a pixel to switch between states. Faster response time guarantees a crispier image, especially when a fast-action event is showing. Although there may be a speed of response time that a normal human eye is incapable of differentiating, we still understand from standardized measurements that QLED TVs are relatively slower.
While the typed response time for QLED varies between 2 and 8 milliseconds, OLED has a response time of about 0.1 milliseconds.
- Input Lag
This refers to the delay between the time an action is taken and when the result is noticed on the screen. This is a big concern for gamers because it determines when their command on the controller reflects. The amount of input Lag often has a lot to do with how much image processing is happening behind the scene of your TV. Both the OLED and QLED TVs are capable of achieving low levels of input lags if you decide to use the TV game mode or turn off extra video processing.
Strengths and Weaknesses of OLED TV & QLED TV:
OLED TV Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths:
The OLED’s engineering is quite different than most other LED TVs in that, instead of an LED backlight that sources the color and image to your eyes, each particle in the screen is its own tiny LED light. In theory, this enhances the image and ensures you’re getting the best experience.
- The OLED’s screen is more flexible so it can roll up and down more easily.
- The most noticeable strength is the OLED’s ability to completely turn of its lights that intend to emit dark or black colors. Other LED backed screens cannot turn off single lights and instead have to cover them up to fill in dark areas.
- The response time is about 0.1 milliseconds.
Weaknesses:
- Cannot reach the same intensity of brightness as QLED televisions can. However, in dimly lit rooms, the quality of the color’s contrast with dark colors is still better with OLED.
QLED TV Strengths and Weaknesses
Introduced by Sony in 2013 and later developed and made popular by Samsung, Quantum Light-Emitting Diode (QLED) uses nanoparticles called quantum dots to enhance the color and brightness of the image.
Strengths:
With the standard LED backlight, you’ll find in other LED TVs, the quantum dots in the QLED intermingle and provide just the right amount of light and color to reach your eyes.
- The quantum dots ensure the brightness of the screen can be seen even in the lightest of rooms.
Weaknesses:
- The QLED cannot completely shut off the light in black areas and therefore must cover the backlight up in certain areas, which can lead to light bleeding.
- Response time is between 2 – 8 milliseconds (still very fast).
Several other factors differentiate these two technologies, but these are, perhaps, the most popular among them. Although both the OLED TV and QLED TV are exceptional televisions, only you can decide which one is best for your home. Interested in finding out which one is perfect for you? Reach out to talk to a member of our team today.